The Real Deal New York

Sam Chang buys $26.5M garage site for hotel

Although he claims he is in the twilight of his career, prolific hotel developer Sam Chang is continuing a string of purchases. Most recently, he paid $26.5 million for a 53,172-square-foot parking garage late last week, in order to build a hotel, he confirmed to The Real Deal.

Chang, who said earlier this month he intends to retire within the next year, bought out the long-term lease on the site at 346 West 40th Street between Eighth and Ninth avenues. Peach Parking Corporation held a triple-net lease on the six-story, 250-space garage that would have expired in February 2030.

A family partnership that resides primarily in Florida and Washington, D.C., has owned the site for roughly 25 years, according to Von Der Ahe. Peach pays an extra $25,000 per year to the landlord for structural repairs.

“A lot of people passed on this because they were deterred by the 17 years left on the lease,” Von Der Ahe told The Real Deal. “Sam Chang knew he had the capability to negotiate a buyout.”

Chang said he will either demolish the garage or build a hotel on top of it. The site comes with roughly 100,000 buildable square feet. He said he has not decided yet on an architect to design it.

“I see a good deal and I take it,” Chang told The Real Deal. “The price was right.”

Chang’s Great Neck, N.Y.-based McSam Hotel Group developed nearby Midtown hotels such as the Hampton Inn at 337 West 39th Street, Candlewood Suites at 339 West 39th Street and the Holiday Inn at 343 West 43rd Street – each of which is between Eighth and Ninth avenues.

Earlier this month, he bought a parking lot at 326-330 West 37th Street with 75,000 buildable square feet for slightly more than $30 million, The Real Deal reported. In the spring, he filed plans for a 29-story hotel at 6 Water Street in Lower Manhattan and a 17-story hotel at 538 West 58th Street in Hell’s Kitchen, as previously reported.